Clothes dryer



E. G. OLTHU IS CLOTHES DRYER pril 30, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July19, 1955 AC/ N m I ro E 2 l m. 9 l 2 l 3 a E M 6 a O/ 2 m m o oo Hr. O 45 O l OOO o Ooo O O O M O O O Ol l,l. O O O O O 5 4 f 7, a Ooo 7 3 oo v,oo 6 5 2 4 7 2 N 2 \\l/ 3 .l 0 f/ A\ ll\ l l l l I i 1|\|\ E.

EUGENE G. OLTHUIS April 30, 1957 E, G, oLTHUls CLOTHES DRYER 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19, 1955 EUGENE G. ou-Hus E. G. OLTHUISCLOTHES DRYER April 3o, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 19, 1955FIC-5.5

gmc/wm `EUGENE 6. OLTHUIS nited States Patent O CLOTHES DRYER Eugene G.Olthuis, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Application July 19, 1955, Serial No. 523,084

8 Claims. (Cl. 34-48) proved air-heating and circulating system for aclothes' dryer including a temperature responsive control so ar rangedthat it is particularly effective to sense the condition of the clothesbeing dried.

A further object of my invention is to provide a new and improvedair-heating assembly for a clothes dryer.

In carrying out my invention I provide a clothes dryer having a clothesbasket rotatable about a non-vertical axis. An air-heating assembly ismounted behind the rear wall of the basket, and means are provided forcirculating air over the heater and through the basket, thereby to drythe clothes being tumbled within the basket. The air iiows from theheater assembly into the basket through a plurality of perforations inthe basket rear wall. In addition to a heating element the heaterassembly further includes radiation barrier means which are disposedbetween the heating element and the basket rear Wall so that the rearwall is not subjected to direct radiation from the heating element. Theheater assembly is thereby effective to heat the air for drying theclothes without causing any over-heating of the basket rear wall. Theradiation barrier means include apertures through which the heated airflows from the heater assembly to the basket, but these apertures are soarranged that not even the sections of the basket rear wall adjacent tothe perforations receive any direct radiation from the heating element.

By a further aspect of my invention, the air-heating and circulatingsystem of the dryer is arranged for the inclusion of a temperatureresponsive control in a position wherein it is particularly effective tosense the condition of the clothes in the basket. In this arrangementthe air is discharged from the basket through a duct connecting with thebasket at the front thereof so that the air enters the duct only afterpassing through the length of the basket. The temperature responsivecontrol is positioned within the duct at a point adjacent to the basketand thereby the control senses the air temperature at a point where itcorresponds closely to the actual clothes temperature.

The novel features which l believe to be characteristic of my inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation,may be best understood by reference to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a clothes dryer embodying myinvention, the view being partially broken away and partiallysectionalized to illustrate details of the dryer;

ice

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the dryer, with certain surfaces broken awayand'partially sectionalized to illustrate further detail;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 3 3 ofFig. l;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a preferred electrical control systemfor the dryer; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing an alternate embodimentof the heater assembly included in the dryer.

Referring now to the drawings I have shown therein a domestic 'clothesdryer 1 embodying my invention in one form thereof. The clothes dryer 1includes a rotatable clothes tumbling basket 2 which is mounted within asuitable outer cabinet 3. The cabinet 3 has side walls 4, a front wall5, a rear wall 6, a top panel 7, and a base 8 and completely enclosesthe basket 2 on all sides. The basket is mounted for rotation about ahorizontal axis and comprises a cylindrical drum-like member having anouter cylindrical wall 9 and front and rear end walls 10 and 11. Thefront wall 10 of the basket is provided with a flanged loading opening12 which is in substantial alignment with an access opening in the frontwall 5 of the outer cabinet for the loading and unloading of clothes. Adoor 13 is hinged to the cabinet for closing the cabinet opening duringoperation of the dryer, and the llange of basket opening 12 preventsclothes from dropping down between the front of the basket and thecabinet. The outer cylindrical wall 9 of the basket is substantiallyimperforate over its entire length but the rear wall 11 is provided witha series of openings or perforations 14 therein through which air mayenter the basket. As explained hereinafter the air entering throughperforations 14 ows axially for the length of the basket and isdischarged at the front thereof through loading opening 12. As shown,annular ribs 14a may be formed on the perforated-rear wall 9 forstrengthening purposes.

The clothes basket 2 is rotatably supported within the outer cabinet bymeans of a plurality of anged roller wheels 15, 16, 17, and 18 (see Fig.2). The roller wheels 15 and 16 are mounted on a shaft 19 which isdriven from the main drive motor 20 of the dryer by means of a belt andpulley drive 21. The roller wheels 17 and 18 .are supported on an idlershaft 22. As shown, both the drive shaft 19 and the idler shaft 22 aresupported at the front and the rear of the cabinet by means of suitablebearings. The basket 2 being so supported on the roller wheels turns orrolls thereon whenever the shaft 19 is turned by the motor 20. The ratioof the driving and driven pulleys in the drive 21 is suitably chosenthat the basket is driven at an appropriate speed to provide a tumblingaction for articles of clothing placed therein.

During operation of the dryer a stream of heated air is passed throughthe basket 2 in order to evaporate moisture from the clothes beingtumbled therein. This stream of air enters the outer cabinet 3 throughvarious small openings appearing therein as a result of its sheet metalconstruction. Additionally, special air inlet openings such as louversor a grill may be provided if desired in the side, front, or rear wallsof the cabinet. The air entering the cabinet is circulated through theclothes basket by means of suitable fan or blower means such as thecentrifugal blower 23 which is driven directly from the motor 20. Theblower 23 tirst pulls the air entering the cabinet 3 over a heaterassembly 24 which is positioned behind the perforated rear wall 11 ofthe basket. After flowing over heater assembly 24 and being heatedthereby,

the air is drawn through the perforations 14 into the tumbling basket 2and flows axially the length thereof. The air in passing through thebasket dries the clothes and picks up a certain amount of linttherefrom.

. At the front of the basket 2 the air is pulled into a basket discharge`duct .25 through a plurality ,of .sneu ings 26 rat the top of the duct.These openings 26 connect with the basket through the loading opening12. The discharge air then is drawn throughvthe duct 25 into gflsuitablecycloneftype lint trap 27 in which any lint picked in the air isseparated therefrom. `Any suit- .able lint trap maybe used, but the lint`trap illustrated in thedrawings has been found to be particularlysatisfactory in operation. This lint trap is described and claimed inthe co-pending application of Steven L. McMillan, S. N. 455,280, filedSeptember l0, 1954 and :assigned to the same assignee as the presentinvention. From the lint trap 27 the air passes into the blower Y23 Iandthen is discharged outwardly from the machine .through a suitabledischarge conduit 28.

i The'heater assembly 24 in which the air is heated before entering thebasket 1 comprises one important aspect of my invention. This heaterassembly is particularly elec- .tive to heat the air, but yet itis soconstructed and arranged that there is no directradiation from the`heat- .ing element thereof to the rear wall 11 ofthe basket 2. Also,there is no direct metallic heat conduction path between the heatingelement and the rear wall of the .basket." As a result, the rear wall of`the basket is not Vheated to a high temperature during the operation of`the machine. ltl is, of course, desirable that the rear .wall'of thebasket Vremain at a relatively low temperature to prevent scorching ofthe articles being dried.

The heater assembly 24 includes an electrical heater in the form of acoiled resistance wire 29 which is mounted on a plurality of electricalinsulating members 3G (Fig. 2). The resistance heater 29 preferablyextends in a circle coaxial with the outer cylindrical wall 9 of basket2. Besides the heater 29 the assembly 24 further includes a ,pluralityof pan-like members 31, 32 `and 33. These pan-like members, as shown,4effectively surround the heating Velement 29 and they are preferablyformed. of sheet metal. The one pan-like element 31 is supported :bytherear Wall of the basket by suitable means (not vshown) such as screwsVformed of heat insulating material. The other two pan-like v`members 32and 33 are mounted on the rear wall 6 ofthe Youter cabinet.-Specifically, they are mounted thereon 'by means of a imain Ycentralsupporting lrod 34 and a plurality of auxiliary bracing lrods 3 5. Thesupporting`1'od3-4and the bracing Ameans 35, are preferably insulatedVfrom the `rear wall of the cabinet ,by ber washers or the like. It,will be noted that the pan-like elements 32 and`33 are so mounted onthese supporting means that there is an ,air space ,therebetween 4Inother words, the members 32 and 33 are spaced somewhat apart.

The pan-like elements 31 and 32 have two Yfunctions. They act asradiation barriers, and they also Aac t as air heating surfaces. Therearmost pan-like yelement 33, although acting to some extent as an airwarming means, 4is primarily intended as an auxiliary shielding meansfor reducing heat transfer` Afrom the assembly to the rear wall of lthecabinet.

As shown in Fig. 2, the respective edges 36 and 3'7 of the elements 31and 33 are flanged and are spaced apart to define an annular airpassageway 38 whereby the air within the cabinet may ow into theassembly. The blower 2S continuously draws air into this passagewayA.'58 during the operation of the dryer. When the heater 29 isenergized, there is direct radiation from yit to both the pan-likeelements 31 and 3.2. 'lfhese .elements are vtliereby raised to arelatively high tenuiperatureffor example 1000 F. The air enteringvthrough passageway 38 ows between the principal surfaces of the pan-likeelements 31 and 32 and also over the heating element V29 itself. Thepan-like elements being relatively hot transfer a considerable amount ofheat to the air, and the air, of course, also absorbs heat directly fromthe heater. The air is thereby raised considerably in ternperaturefas itpeas/ses through the heater assembly 2d. For example,

V.in a preierredembodiment of .my invention utilizing an air flow ofcubic feet per minute, the air is raised approximately 200 F. intemperature in passing through the heater assembly. The heated airleaves the heater assembly through a plurality or apertures 39 in thepanlike element 31. The air ows through these openings to theperforations 14 in the=backwall 11 of the basket and then into thebasket itseltas described-above.

As well as serving as air-heating means, the pan-like elementsel and 32alsl'serve as radiation barriers. They prevent direct radiation from theheater 29 to the rear wall 11 of the basltetand also to the side andrear walls 4 and 6 of the cabinet, As shown, the pan-like element 31forms a shieldbetween the heating element and the rear wall 11 of thebasket to prevent radiation to the wall 11. The element 32 forms ashield preventing direct radiation to the rear wall 6 of the cabinet.The spacedapart outer pan-.shapedelement 33 and the space between itandthe.elementfliprevent any considerable re-radiation from the element32.itself to the rear wall of the cabinet. The hanges 3.6, 37 and 40 ofthe respective elements prevent direct-radiation from the heater to theside walls d of the cabinet. e

:In order further to reduce the 'heat transferred to the This insulatingmember 41 is positioned between `the pan-like element 31 and the Vrearwall llandforms heat insulating layer therebetween.

rThis .insulating sheet 4may be made of any suitable heat insulatingmaterial, as for example, asbestos. The insulating sheet .41 basaplurality of apertures bt2 therein which are aligned with theperforations ift in the rear .wall 11 of the Vbasket and the apertures39 in element 31 to provide for the flow of air from the heater assemblyinto the'basket. Thev apertures 3S? in the pan-iikc element 31, ofcourse, permit somedirect heat radiation to pass through the pan-likeclement. However, the insulating sheet V41 overlies the portion of :thebasket rear wall 11 ill; f lQutco the -heater, and thereby positivelyprevents any `d irect radiation .to Athe basket wall. Ythe apertures .42in sheet 41ers somewhat smaller than the pertorations 14 so the edges.of the perforations are shielded by the insulating sheet; and as -aresult, there can be no direct radiation fromfthe electrical heatingelement 29 even to the sections lof the rear `Wall 11 immediatelyadjacent the perforations.

Besides being 4effective to prevent direct heat radiation ,throughapertures 39 to Ithe' back wall 11 of the basket, the heat insulatingsheet 41 also substantially prevents heat conduction between thepan-like element 31 and the basket. The pan 31 includes a plurality ofcircular ribs .42a thereon whereby itis supported from the basket Wall11. `The ribs -42aspace the principal surface of pan `3:1 away'pfromwail 11 and comprise the only paths for heat conduction from the pan .tothe wall. The ribs 42a do not, however, contact `the `basket Wall 11directly but rather contact Kthe insulating sheet 41. The insulatingsheet 41=thus forms -a bar r-ier preventing direct heat conduction tothe back wall of Vthe basket from lthe pan. The sheet 41. also acts-asa. barrier to prevent transfer of heat by convection or radiation frompan 31 to the back wall of the basket. The supporting means (not shown)for the pan 31 extend through sheet 41 to the basket Wall-but as'aforementioned these .means are preferably formed kotheat A1'r,tsv.,1,lating material Yso .that no apareaihehcat transferee cur throughthem- Thus it `will be seen Ythat-.my .heater assembly is so constructedand arranged that it is eiective to heat the air W for the tumblingbasket without causing overheating of the basket rear wall. The basketrear wall is eiectively shielded from direct radiation from the heating4element and also is .insulated against heat transfer by conductionandradiation. However, due to the fact that the air flows between twoheated surfaces-as well as over the heating element, the heater assemblyis particularly effective as an air heating means for a clothes dryer.

`It will be noted incidentally that, although there can be no directheat radiation from the heating element 29 to the rear wall 11 of thebasket, direct radiation can occur to the clothes in the basket throughthe aligned apertures 39, 42 and 14. The radiant heat so reaching theclothes aids the heated air stream in drying the clothes.

Besides this improved heater assembly, my new and improved clothes dryeralso includes a temperature-responsive control so arranged that it isparticularly eective to sense the condition of clothes being dried. Thepositioning of this control 43 is such that it senses the temperaturesof the air stream through the dryer at a point where the air temperaturecorresponds closely to the temperature of the clothes being dried.Specifically, as shown in Figs. l and 3, the control 43 is positioned inthe basket discharge duct 25 closely adjacent the openings 26 throughwhich the air leaves the basket 2. The control is in fact positioneddirectly in the path of the air stream as it leaves the basket. Iniiowing lengthwise through the basket, the air reaches a temperaturewhich corresponds closely to the temperature of the clothes themselves.Since the control element 43 then senses the temperature of the air justas it leaves the basket, the control is thereby efective to sense thecondition of the clothes themselves to a very accurate degree.

The control 45 includes a manual control knob 44 which by my inventionis positioned directly behind the access door i3. The shaft for thecontrol knob 44 protrudes upwardly through the top wall 45 of the duct25 to provide for this positioning. The control knob may thus be reachedonly when the access door is open and cannot be tampered with during theoperation of the machine. This arrangement of the control knob isparticularly advantageous to prevent children from changing its settingor otherwise playing with it so as to effect adversely machineoperation.

Although various temperature-responsive control devices may be disposedin the manner shown to control machine operation, one preferredtempera-ture-responsive .control device is described and claimed in myco-pend ing application, S. N. 523,083, tiled concu-rrently herewith andassigned to the same assignee as the present invention. This device orswitch and a preferred electrical control system for use therewith areshown schematically in Fig. 4. The switch includes a bimetallic element46 which is eiective to move .a column spring 47 between upper and lowerbowed positions as indicated by the dotted lines. In its upper position,the spring 4'7 closes a plurality of contacts 48, 49, and S0, and in itslower bowed position the spring closes the contacts 48 and 51. Aresilient latch mem-ber 52 is effective to hold the spring in anadditional intermediate position, illustrated by the solid lines in Fig.4, wherein none of the contacts are closed. The latch member 52 may bereleased from the spring by means of an operating plunger `53 which iscontrolled by the knob 44 positioned behind the door i3.

` To place the dryer in operation, the latch member S2 is releasedallowing the cold bimetal 46 to flex the spring 47 to its upper bowedposition (as viewed in Fig. 4). This closes the contacts 48, 4Q, and 5t)and thereby energizes both the drive motor 2i) and the heating element29. The heating element is energized across a 220 Volt supply comprisingconductors 54 and 55, and the motor is energized across a 110 voltsupply appearing between conductor 54 and an electrical neutral line 56.

The drive motor is energized by a circuit commencing with conductor 54of the 220 volt supply and extending through the bimetal 46, the spring47, the contacts 48 and 49, to a line 57. The circuit continues throughline 57 to the main winding 58 of the motor, and through line 57 and thecontacts 59 of a motor centrifugal switch 60 to the starting winding 6lof the motor. A common line 62 leading from the motor windings to theelec trical neutral line 56 completes the motor circuit. A fuse 63 inthe common line 62 provides motor overload protection in the usualmanner. As the motor cornes up to speed, the motor centrifugal switch 60opens the contacts 59 and thereby drops the starting winding 61 out ofthe circuit. The main winding 58 thereafter continues the motor inoperation during the drying cycle. Preferably a door switch 64 operatedby door 13 is connected in series circuit relation with the line 57 sothat the motor will be de-energized whenever door 13 is opened. This, ofcourse, provides a safety feature of terminating basket rotationwhenever the door is opened. As explained hereinafter, the stoppage ofbasket rotation also results in the heater 29 being de-energized. Sincethe control knob 44 is positioned behind door 13, this means that thecontrol 43 can be adjusted or operated only when the basket is at rest.and the heater is cie-energized.

The movement of the switch to its upper position closes a circuit forthe heating element 29 between conductors 54 and 55. Beginning at theconductor 54 this circuit extends through the bimetal 46, the spring 47,the contacts 48, 49, and 50, and a line 65 to the heating element 29.From the element 29 the heater circuit is completed to the other 220volt supply conductor 55 through a line 66 and the contacts 67 of themotor centrifugal switch 60. The contacts 67 are closed by thecentrifugal switch 6i) when the drive motor 20 comes up to speed andremain closed so long as normal Vbasket rotation continues. However, ifmotor rotation is stopped as by opening of the door 13, contacts 67 areopened to terminate heater operation. Over-temperature protection forthe dryer is provided by a safety thermostat 68 connected in seriescircuit relation in line 65 Once the motor has come up to speed, thedryer there-` after continues in operation with the heater 29 energizeduntil such time as thebimetal 46 develops enough downward force to movethe` spring 47 to its lower bowed position (as viewed in Fig. 4). Thisoccurs when the clothes have been substantially dried. At that time theair temperature in the basket discharge duct 25 rises to predeterminedlevel effective to cause the bimetal to bend far enough to overcome theupward stress in the spring and move it to its lower position. Since itis a column spring, the spring 47 exes between its upper and lowerpositions with a snap action.

vThe movement of the spring 46 to its lower position opens the contacts49 and Si) and thereby breaks the heater circuit deenergizing the heater29. The basket' drive motor 2l), however, continues in operation for adryer cool-down period. As mentioned above, the movement of the springto its lower position closes contact 43 with contact 51, and, as shown,contact 51 is connected directly to line 57. The motor is therebyenergized through the same circuit as when the spring was in its upperposition, the only exception being that the circuit extends through thecontact 51 rather than through the contact 49. The machine continues inthis cooldown operation with the heater orf until such time as thebasket 2 has cooled suliiciently for the clothes to be removed withoutdanger. Since the drive motor vcontinues to operate, the basket, ofcourse, rotates and also air is blown through the basket by the blowerto cool it. When the basket and clothes temperature has reached a safevalue, the bimetal 46 bends upward far enough to overcome the downwardstress in the spring 47 and moves it toward its upper position. Thelatch 52, however, catches the bimetal and holds it in its intermediateposition sothat all ofthe contacts-48V-S1- are opened- 7 -Thedryeroperationis-thereby'completely terminated with -bcththe main drive motorand the heater turned off.

In Fig. l5, I have shown an alternaterembodinient of my new and improvedheater assembly incorporatedin the-dryer 1. This heater assembly 70 issimilar in many respects to the heater assembly 24, and it is mounted inthe clothes-dryer 1 in the same manner. Identical members in the heaterassembly 70 to those in the heater assembly 24 are indicated by the samereference numerals.

The assembly 70 is positioned behind the rear wall 1i of basket 2 andincludes an electrical resistance wire heater -29supported on suitableinsulating elements 30. 'The heating element v29 is circular in form andis coaxial with the outer wall 9 of basket 2. Behind the heating elementthere are positioned a pair of spaced-apart panshaped elements 3'2 and33. These pan-shaped elements are mounted on the-rear Wall 6 of thecabinet 3 by a main center supporting rod 34 and a plurality ofauxiliary bracing rods 35. A third pan-shaped element 31 is positionedin front of the heating element between it and the rearwall 11'of-thebasket. This pan-shaped element 31 is supported from the rear wall 11ofthe basket by any suitable means such as screws formed of heatinsulating material. The pan 31 is, however, heat ins sulated from therear wall 11 by means of an insulating member or sheet 41 disposedbetween it and the wall, The sheet 41- is also supported by the basketwall 11.

The edge portions 36 and 37 of the pans 31 and 33 are hanged rearwardlyand are spaced apart to provide a suitable passageway 38 through whichair enters the heater assembly 70 during the operation of the machine.The air is heated in the assembly both by the heating element 29 itselfand also by the principal surfaces of the pan-shaped elements 31 and 32.These pans being heated by radiation from the heating element in turngive ofi heat to warmv the air passing through the assembly. The heatedair passes out of the heater assembly through suitable apertures 71 inthe pan-shaped element 31 and -then flowsinto the basket 2 throughapertures 42 in the insulating sheet 41 and perforations 14 in basketrear lwall 11. As in the Erst-described embodiment the apertures 42 andthe perforations 14 are aligned for the ow of air into the basket, andthe apertures 42 are somewhat smaller in diameter than the perforations14 for protecting the wall 11 against radiation from heater 29.

-The pan-shaped element 31 as well as acting as an air heater also lactsas a heat radiation barrier for basket rear wall 11. of the forwardradiation from the heater so that it will not strike the rear wall ofthe basket. There is some radiation `from the heater through apertures71 in the pan 31, butit will be noted that the apertures 71 are notaligned with the apertures 42 in sheet 41 and the perforations 14 in thebasket rear wall 11. Rather these apertures 71 in the pan-shaped member31 lie behind solid portions of the insulating sheet 41. The sheet 41thereby prevents the radiation through apertures 71 from reaching basketrear wall 11 and also prevents it from proceeding on into the basket.Any direct radiation from the heater passing through the apertures 71necessarily strikes the insulating sheet, whereby in heater,`

assembly 70 there is no direct radiation from the heater 29 either towall 11 orintothe basket itself.

The insulating sheet 41 in addition to serving as a heat radiationbarrieral'so serves to prevent any substantial heat transferbyconductionbetweenpan-like element 31 and basket rear Wall 11. Thepan-like elements 32 and 33 act, as 'in' the -rst described embodiment,to prevent overheating of the cabinet rear wall 6.

With the heater assembly 70 there is an effective healting of thebasketair stream without-there being any direct radiation-from; the --lieater29 into'v the clothes -blasket-` 2. This absence of direct radiation hasbeen found to be de- In other words, pan 31 takes up most sirable incertain .sizes `of dryers in order 'to prevent scorching of the clothes.The 'offsetting of the apertures 71 Vfromthe aligned aperturesandjperforations .T42 iand 14 does not restrict the air ow through theheater and the basket to any appreciable extent. The spaces 72 providedbetween pan 31 and sheet 41 by the ribs 42a provide adequate passage forthe ow of air from apertures 71 to apertures 42`an'd perforations 14.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I Ihave described what latpresent are considered Ito be the preferred embodiments of my invention,but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changesand mo'dilications may be made therein without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention and I therefore aim to cover in theapp-ended claims all such equivalent variations and modifications.

What i claim as new and desire to secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. In a clothes dryer, a clothes basket rotatable about a non-verticalaxis, said basket having a plurality of erforations in the rear wallthereof, a heater assembly disposed behind said rear wall, means forcirculating a stream of air over said heater assembly and through saidbasket, said airV passing into said basket through said perforations,said heater assembly including a heater, and a heat-insulating 'membersecured to said rear wall in fno-nt of said heater for insulating saidrear wall from said heater, said insulating member having a pluralityvof apertures therein aligned with said perforations for the iiow of airfrom said heater assembly to said basket, said apertures being `nolarger in size than said perforaticns whereby the rear Wall sec-tionsadjacent to said perforations are not exposed to direct radiation fromsaid heater.

2. ln a clothes dryer, a clothes basket rotatable about a non-verticalaxis, said basket having a plurality of perforations in the rear Wallthereof, a heater assembly disposed behind said rear wall,` means forcirculating a stream of air over said heater assembly and through saidbasket, said air passing into said basket through said perforations,said heater assembly including a heater, a heat insulating sheet securedto said rear wall in front of said heater, said insulating sheet havinga plurality of apertures therein aligned with said perforations for theflow of air from said heater assembly to said basket, and Aa radiationbarrier member secured to said basket and positioned between saidinsulating member and said heater, said member being heated by radiationfrom said heater there by forming a hot surface aiding the heating ofsaid air, and said member having ra plural-ity of apertures therein forthe liow of air from said heater assembly to said basket.

3, The combination of claim 2 wherein said apertures in said radiationbarrier member are displaced from said apertures in said insulatingmember thereby to prevent direct radiation from said heater into saidbasket.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein said apertures in said insulatingmember are smaller in size than said perforations in said rear wall ofslaid basket whereby the rear wall sections adjacent said perfora-tionsare not exposed to radiation from said heater.

5. In a clothes dryer a clothes basket rotatable 'about a non-verticaltaxis, said basket having a plurality of perfo-rations in the rear wallthereof, a heater assembly disposedbehind said rear wall of said basket,means for circulatinga stream of air oversaid heater assembly andthrough said basket,-said air passing into said basket from said heaterassembly through said peromtions, said assembly including a heater, anda heat insulating member secured to said basket rear wall in front ofsaid heater for insulating said rear wall from said heater, saidinsulating member having a plurality of apertures therein aligned withsaid peronations therebyproviding for the flow of airV fromy said.heater. assembly to. said basket, Ya duct leading from said basket atthe front thereof for the discharge of said air from said basket, andtemperature-responsive control means for said heater disposed in saidduct closely adjacent to said basket.

6. In a clothes dryer, an 'outer cabinet, a clothes basket disposedwithin said cabinet yand rotatable about a nonvertical axis, said baskethaving a plurality of perforations in the rear wvall thereof, a heaterassembly disposed behind the rear wall, means for circulating a streamof air over said heater assembly and through said basket, said airpassing into said basket from said heater assembly through saidperforations, said heater assembly including a heater, rst and secondmetallic members disposed on opposite sides of heater for preventingdirect radiation from said heater to said rear wall of said basket andto the rear wall of said outer cabinet respectively, said metallicmembers being heated from radiation from said heater thereby forming hotsurfaces aiding in the heating of said air, said tirst metallic memberhaving a plurality of apertures therein for the ow of air from saidheater assembly to said basket, and a heat-insulating member secured tosaid rear wall of said basket land positioned beftween said rear walland said first metallic member for insulating said rear wall from saidheater assembly, said insulating member hlaving a plurality yofapertunes therein aligned with said perforations for the flow of airfnom said assembly into said basket.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said apertures 4in said firstmetallic member are displaced from said apertures in said insulatingmember thereby to prevent direct radiation from said healter into saidbasket and wherein at least one of said metallic members is panshapedthereby to prevent direct radiation from said heater to the side wallsof said cabinet.

8. The combination of claim 6 wherein said metallic members arepan-shaped thereby to prevent :direct nadiaytion from said heater to theside walls of the said cabinet, and including a third metallic memberdisposed between said second metallic member land said near wall of saidcabinet thereby fur-ther to shield said rear wall from said heater.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,472,293 Groven June 7, 1949 2,670,549 ONeill Mar. 2, 1954 2,722,057Pugh Nov. 1, 1955

